March 15, 2014
After a restful night, we set off
for Great Lameshur Bay this morning. We
made a quick stop in Chocolate Hole (anything named “Chocolate” has to be good)
to take some pictures for our friend, Marshall, of the house he and his family
used to live in (nice place!) and then we continued on to Great Lameshur
Bay. As we motored by Little Lameshur
Bay (right next to Great Lameshur Bay) we noticed only 1 sailboat moored there
in front of a white sandy beach. We
continued around the edge of some rocks and saw Great Lameshur Bay with about
10 boats moored and a peeble beach. My
feet said, go back to the white sandy beach and the unbusy bay so we turned
around and went to Little Lameshur Bay.
We basically had our choice of mooring balls and chose the one right
next to the beach. Ahhhh. We put on our snorkeling gear and jumped
in. The snorkeling, though not
magnificent, was amazing. It’s hard to
find a mediocre spot in which to snorkel
in the Virgin Islands. After we
finished snorkeling, it was time to put our feet up and rest a bit. NOT!
Daniel already had the trail map out for the mountain we were staying
next to. Yes, I said mountain. He found us a trail. A bit “strenuous” of a trail, but we could do
it, no problem. He promised me a
waterfall, so I was game. I put on my
swimsuit, a cover up and put my socks and walking shoes in D-Time, we were
ready. WAIT, I forgot, a bottle of
water, just in case.
We arrived at shore and no matter
how you did it, your feet ended up wet and coated with the lovely white sand. No big deal, I brought a water bottle. I sat on a picnic table and poured that cold
water all over my feet to get the sand off for the long hike. Slipped on my socks and shoes (ahhh) and then
we set out for our hike. We had plans to
see a waterfall and petroglyphs (ancient writings carved in stone). In the past, I’ve hiked and Daniel says, we’ve
gone about a mile or a half mile – all kind of general, nothing specific, so I decided to turn on my app on my iPhone
(Map My Run) that keeps up with how far you go and what kind of workout you are
doing. We started out and went nice and
flat for about .10 a mile where we saw a deer run in front of us, we saw cages
that the park service was using to capture mongooses (which we saw in some of
the cages) and we saw lots of beautiful plants.
This was going to be a great hike!
Then it went up hill, way up hill – for over a mile. My iPhone chirped out “one mile, very strenuous
workout”. No duh, I was thinking. We finally leveled off and then went steeply downhill
for about a mile – iPhone: “two miles,
very strenuous workout”. About this
time, I’m wishing I had that water bottle full of that cold water. Oh well, we push on.
We came upon some old ruins of a sugar plantation
and looked around a bit then back tracked to the right trail to the petroglyphs
and waterfall. By this time I’m sweating
like crazy and really looking forward to the waterfall and was so glad I wore a
swimsuit to hike in so I could just jump into the waterfalls on cool off. We make it to the petroglyphs and see one big
rock with carvings on it. It was neat to
see, but 2 miles worth? Not so
sure. Anyway, I start looking around for
the waterfall and well, there isn’t one.
Apparently it isn’t rainy season so there is no water, only a disgusting
black pond with mosquitos flying around it.
Really??? I want my
waterfall! No choice, we turn back and
head, you guessed it, uphill for a mile.
Daniel says I’ve made a decision.
I’m thinking airlift me out of this
hike via a helicopter or he’s going for a 4-wheeler to haul me out. Either is fine with me. Nope, I get to keep walking but he has
decided to start out with two glasses of water when we get back to C-Time and
follow it up with a coke and a glass of milk.
I think he is thirsty, but thankfully he doesn’t say anything about the
water I poured out over my feet before we left.
iPhone: “3 miles, strenuous work
out”. Ugh. By the time we get back to D-Time we have
gone 4.70 miles. We are both guzzling
water. Next time, I won’t empty the
water bottle on my feet before I go.
Lesson learned.
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